Each and All

Little thinks, in the field, yon red-cloaked clown,Of thee, from the hill-top looking down;And the heifer, that lows in the upland farm,Far-heard, lows not thine ear to charm;The sexton tolling the bell at noon,Dreams not that great NapoleonStops his horse, and lists with delight,Whilst his files sweep round yon Alpine height;Nor knowest thou what argumentThy life to thy neighbor’s creed has lent:All are needed by each one,Nothing is fair or good alone.

I thought the sparrow’s note from heaven,Singing at dawn on the alder bough;I brought him home in his nest at even;—He sings the song, but it pleases not now;For I did not bring home the river and sky;He sang to my ear; they sang to my eye.

The delicate shells lay on the shore;The bubbles of the latest waveFresh pearls to their enamel gave;And the bellowing of the savage seaGreeted their safe escape to me;I wiped away the weeds and foam,And fetched my sea-born treasures home;But the poor, unsightly, noisome thingsHad left their beauty on the shoreWith the sun, and the sand, and the wild uproar.

The lover watched his graceful maidAs ‘mid the virgin train she strayed,Nor knew her beauty’s best attireWas woven still by the snow-white quire;At last she came to his hermitage,Like the bird from the woodlands to the cage,—The gay enchantment was undone,A gentle wife, but fairy none.

Then I said, “I covet Truth;Beauty is unripe childhood’s cheat,—I leave it behind with the games of youth.”As I spoke, beneath my feetThe ground-pine curled its pretty wreath,Running over the club-moss burrs;I inhaled the violet’s breath;Around me stood the oaks and firs;Pine cones and acorns lay on the ground;Above me soared the eternal sky,Full of light and deity;Again I saw, again I heard,The rolling river, the morning bird;—Beauty through my senses stole,I yielded myself to the perfect whole.